How to Be a Professional When Working From Home

Working from home is pure bliss for us introverts. No travel to the office every day. No unnecessary social rituals. I’m going to show you some tips on how to excel in a work from home environment.

Most companies are going to be faced with a decision shortly, on whether to let their employees continue to work from home or sound the bell to return to the office. Probably most likely they’ll do a combination and let select functions and people continue to work from home.

You want to stand out as someone who does remote work exceedingly well.

Make sure your laptop and tech work

Most people can breeze past this section since organizations have gotten much better at using cloud software that un-tethers you from a desk. The best thing to do before you embark on remote work forever is to bring your laptop home one weekend and make sure everything works as expected.

• Check your laptop hardware and make sure it’s 100%. Sometimes a bad or aging battery in IBM or Dell laptops can cause funny behavior.

• Ensure that you have software licenses needed on your machine. Sometimes organizations “share” software licenses to save cost.

• Make sure you have access to any necessary network folders offsite. You can check this by bringing your laptop home with you and connecting through your home internet and any company VPN.

• Check your home internet speeds. If you’re in a rural area and speeds are slow check with your IT department if they can issue you an internet hotspot. Slow internet can drastically reduce your productivity.

• Check cell-phone reimbursement policies. If your company has a BOYD policy for cell-phones see if the company has a reimbursement policy. An extra $50-70 in your pocket each month never hurts.

Pretend you’re working from the office

This one is counter-intuitive and the biggest stumbling block for those new to remote work. It’s a learned skill so much as a practice. It took me two years to finally get good at it.

Outside the windowless confines of your cubicle or office, there are so many environmental factors that negatively impact your productivity at home.

On the flip-side there are so many factors at work, that we take for granted that enhance our productivity. Don’t forget organizations want to squeeze as much out of us as they can. There’s all matter of psychology and industrial organization research companies have embraced in order to milk your brain juices for all they’re worth.

Don’t work from your pajamas.

I’ve found it’s important to have a separation from work and personal time. Changing our clothing helps us do that. Get showered and get dressed like you’re going to work. You don’t have to don the Brooks Brothers but wear something that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen leaving the house in.

Show up on time (early if possible)

This is an easy one since you only need to move your rump 20-feet to the next room. You know how smart folks say 50% of the work is just showing up on time? There’s something to that.

And since you save ~1 hour on commute now there’s no excuse.

If you have a 9:00 Zoom, get ready by 8:45. There’s nothing worse than fumbling to get video conferencing working and missing the introduction.

When you rush and are disorganized it shows. Early is on-time, on-time is late.

If you aren’t an early riser now is the time to give it a try

Imagine taking your time in the morning. Exercise or meditate for 15 minutes, take a long shower if you want, get dressed, maybe even have time to have breakfast, and savor a cup of coffee.

Sounds nice, right?

Most people who work from home want to do this but don’t. The reason why is entirely in their control too.

Here’s the secret to having everything you ever wanted out of a morning routine:

Wake up 30 minutes earlier. That’s all.

Exercise boundaries between work time and personal time

It’s very tempting to fit in personal chores or errands in the workday. After all, the post office and bank will not be busy at this time. You tell yourself it’ll only take 20 minutes. But every one of these errands adds up and there’s a switching cost to pausing and restarting work.

This is a slippery slope argument. I know it’s not logically concrete and some people might be perfectly fine with errands mixed in. I know, for me, personally, it does not work.

If you are going to do errands during “work time” my suggestion is to set a lunch hour for yourself everyday and take care of all of them during that.

Don’t let work interfere with home life

There’s no reason why you should be working until 7 pm each night. Don’t answer emails after hours. Unplug.

Unless your a network security person there’s likely nothing both important and urgent enough to pull you away from your family.

Have a specific place where you work: use a desk

Working at a desk and proper chair will help your posture and allow you to work the necessary hours without fatigue. It also sends an important psychological signal to your brain that “hey, you’re in the office, time to work buddy.”

For the same reason I don’t recommend working from your bedroom – that’s your place to relax.

So find your happy work space. And if you’re at a desk set a timer and remind yourself to get up every hour and half and stretch or do a lap to the kitchen.

Knock their socks off with your productivity

The expectation of a lot of managers is that they’re employees are going to be less productive when working remotely. You want to prove them wrong each and every day.

You want to push it up 11.

Most people report higher levels of productivity when working from home since they can manage their time better and avoid some if not all pointless meetings. If you’re in this camp them this will be easy for you.

Let them know you exist by fostering good relationships

When you’re physically at work it’s easy for people to notice you. Just by going to the bathroom, or the kitchen for a cup of coffee you end up rubbing shoulders and sparking positive interactions with co-workers. At home this opportunity does not exist.

You need to manufacture this good-will remotely.

Check-in with your team and manager at least once a week. Definitely try to set up some one-on-one time with your boss to discuss current projects and performance over the past week. Odds are no one else on your team will do this so you’ll set yourself apart as a favorite this way.

Be generous with your co-workers and even throw in a compliment and a thank you here and there. Honey is an important tool in getting things done.

Don’t assume malice. Occasionally the tone on emails from people will sound rude or condescending, or like you’re being thrown under the bus. Don’t assume that person is an uncivilized oaf gunning for your job. Remember, fighting takes more energy than alliances, so see if you can build a bridge. Even if they might not deserve it. Be selfish and do it for you.

Above all be professional. As you communicate on email chains show the organization that you are a problem solver that wants to get things done.